"The nominee for Federal Energy Regulatory Commission chairman reached out to executives at oil giant BP PLC for help with the confirmation process, according to emails released yesterday by a conservative think tank opposing his nomination."

"Former Colorado energy regulator Ron Binz thanked three BP officials in a July 25 email, part of a packet of emails obtained by the Free Market Environmental Law Clinic and the Independence Institute in Colorado through a Freedom of Information Act request from FERC.

The emails were first reported last night in The Washington Times after Binz had finished a confirmation hearing before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee."